Mumbai Police in its fight against terror has teamed up with Ogilvy, ICICI and Eeksaurus to spread awareness and create vigilant citizens through their video ‘Mumbai Ke Liye 1 Minute’. The video, which has been designed in a ‘spot the suspicious object’ game format, hit theatres exclusively across Mumbai on the 29 August. The campaign has been designed to encourage the citizens of Mumbai to be more vigilant when they go out to worship Ganpati Bappa.
Tempting the viewer with the prize of a gold coin, the video explores a day in a Ganesh Pandal in the city. With the crowds growing, situations such as vehicles being parked, children’s toys forgotten, even unclaimed baggage left behind…the campaign encourages the audience to keep track and SMS the correct number of suspicious objects they spot during the video. It further goes on to add that if one can be so sure of what they have spotted during the video, they should go on to actually dial 100 and alert the police in case they do come across any suspicious object while offering their prayers.
Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Harshad Rajadhyaksha (ECD, Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai) says, “We are using the medium of film to train the city to be alert during the festival. We are playing on the mindset of the people that they would readily extend their efforts to win a prize. In the end we gently nudge their conscience into doing the same for their safety.” Speaking further about the campaign, Kainaz Karmakar (ECD, Ogilvy& Mather, Mumbai) adds: “We needed a lot of like-minded partners to pull off something on this scale. That is where E. Suresh came in and he added his enthusiasm and his full support to pull this off. ICICI Bank backed us by agreeing to provide the gold coins.”
Speaking on the execution of the campaign, Suresh Eriyat (Founder and Creative Director – Eeksaurus) says: “We are very happy to have associated with this campaign to spread awareness among the citizens of Mumbai. The festival is extremely bright and vibrant in its fullness, and this can be enhanced when everyone plays their part in the safety process. While other campaigns on such topics are usually created to spread shock and flash warning signs all over the place, our take on the issue is to tap the need for alertness that leads people to take action thereby not only thinking about themselves, but the safety of the city at large. The system of promising a reward at the beginning and engaging the audience in a game like format is sure to grab more attention thereby propelling more people to take action that just acting as passive observers.”
Maintaining storytelling at the core of its functioning; Eeksaurus aims to grow forward in the direction of creating such thought provoking campaigns that hold together the elements of design that maximises the interest of the audience.